Thesis Project Form

Rehabilitative exoskeletons have gained interest for their ability to enable intense, repetitive training. However, their integration with the human body is challenging, especially due to the complexity of the shoulder joint. Few studies have examined how exoskeletons alter natural movement patterns, a crucial factor in assessing their performance and limitations. This thesis explores how FloatEVO affects motion synergies. Does it introduce incorrect movement patterns? How does it impact upper-lower body synergy?

Analysis of upper limb movement patterns and synergies, including EMG signal analysis, during reaching-grasping tasks with and without wearing the FloatEVO upper limb exoskeleton.
Analysis of lower limb synergies during task performance and study of the scapular activation by evaluating the centre of shoulder articulation movement. The activity will include: (i) Literature review of the state of the art, (ii) Definition and design of the experiment setup for the reach and grasp task, (iii) Data acquisition by means of in-lab experiments (at least 20 subjects) (iiii) Post-processing of Exoskeleton, Vicon and EMG data (using MATLAB/Python).

Hard Skills:
Understanding of the evaluated transparency control of FloatEVO
Ability to independently use the FloatEVO device for trials on healthy subjects
Proficiency in operating the Vicon acquisition system
Enhanced coding skills for data post-processing
Deeper knowledge of biomechanics and kinematics from both physiological and robotic perspectives
Soft Skill:
Ability to write an informative scientific paper